Edible Flowers

Tom's Journal.
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Edible Flowers.

Not Just Eye Candy: Edible Flowers... Beautiful & Healthy

At the farmer’s market this weekend, I sampled a crisp, peppery purple and yellow flower. It was a Johnny-Jump-Up, with a faint taste of wintergreen. I also tried a daylily bud, which reminded me of fresh green beans. The grower showed me how appealing the flowers looked with his newly picked lettuces. Indeed, they were pretty enough to eat... and made a brilliant salad that evening.

SENSATIONAL SALAD DAYS

Hungering for more -- flowers and information -- I called herbalist Michele Eccleston of Portland, Oregon, and James Duke, PhD, ethnobotanist and former USDA researcher, to learn more about which flowers are edible and what health benefits they bring to the plate.

According to Dr. Duke, all flowers contain protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and sugars. His Web site, www.greenpharmacy.com, makes it easy to find the precise chemicals in your favorite flowers. Most contain several antioxidants, including Vitamin C, but some also have particular health benefits:

• Violets, kin of the vivid Johnny-Jump-Up, add a grassy flavor to garnishes and desserts. These are a good source of rutin, believed to reduce capillary fragility.

• Borage, which hints at cucumber, is good in salads. It should be used sparingly, but can be helpful when you have a cold or cough.

• Lavender petals taste sweet and contain chemicals thought to benefit the central nervous system.

• Roses have a sweet, astringent flavor. Rose petals are rich in antioxidant-like polyphenols that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Different colors have different bioactive pigments -- and white has the least. Eccleston cautioned against eating the ones you buy in stores as they are grown with chemicals and dipped in fungicide.

• Nasturtiums, lemon gem marigold and calendula (petals only) are all delicious in salads, each bringing its distinct earthy flavor and color to the table, so to speak. The orange calendula (marigold) petals contain lycopene and other cancer-fighting nutrients, while the yellow ones are rich in lutein, which is good for the eyes.

• Daylilies contain Vitamin B and chemicals associated with reduced risk of heart disorders.

• Squash blossoms contain Vitamin A precursor carotenoids.

Mix these with fresh lettuces, dress lightly and admire your chef d’oeuvre before consuming it.

SIP YOUR FLOWERS

You can also steep edible flowers in hot water to make tea. While most people know of chamomile tea...

• Rose petals make tea with a distinctively floral flavor.

• Predictably, lemon verbena tastes lemony. You can use the leaves too.

• Scented geraniums have a sweet citrus flavor.

• Bee balm tastes of both mint and oregano.

• Hibiscus has a fruity, cranberry flavor and turns tea a deep red.

do your research

Most edible flowers bloom between March and September. Violets (such as Johnny-Jump-Ups) appear early and other flowers follow in May, with many remaining in bloom until the first frost. Edible flowers can be annuals or perennials. They can be dried or frozen, but most lose their color, flavor and nutrient value over time.

Eccleston notes that every year, people are poisoned by plants because they don’t know what they are eating. It is important to research any wild plant so you know whether a particular flower is edible, and if so, which parts. For example, blue elderberry is edible, but red-berried elder is not... and all pistils and stamens usually need to be removed. Take classes, check out plant books and visit nurseries specializing in edible plants.

It’s best to eat only flowers you’ve grown so you know they have not been exposed to pesticides, lead-based paint (found around older buildings) or animal waste. Do not fertilize edible flowers with animal manure.

LET’S EAT

A salad tossed with an assortment of edible flowers looks like a Monet painting -- it’s a naturally beautiful way to showcase them. Here are some others as well...

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Skip the pasta. Stuff squash blossoms with cheese and herbs, dip in egg and flour and lightly sauté in a bit of olive oil. Eccleston cautions that you should only pick and prepare the male blossoms (the ones with stamen, which you should remove first). Leave the female blossoms on the plant so they can mature and become squash.

Herbal Sun Tea

Fill a one-gallon glass jar with filtered water and add a handful of one type or a combination of lavender flowers, rose petals, rose geranium (flowers and leaves), lemon verbena (flowers and leaves) and mint. Leave it to sit in the full sun to steep for four to six hours. The water turns a tea color as the herbs infuse into the water. Then, strain out the plants, place the tea in the refrigerator and serve cold.

Nasturtium salad dressing, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service

¾ cup canola oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar (or an edible flower vinegar)
three to four minced garlic cloves

Whisk together and blend well.

Add ½ cup nasturtium petals and ¼ cup snipped chives and florets. Gently blend and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over salad garnished with nasturtium flowers.

Finale

For a delightful summer dessert, Eccleston suggests mixing crushed lavender petals with coconut sorbet or ice cream. Eat on a hot summer evening... while sitting in the garden, naturally.

Source(s):

Michele Eccleston is an herbalist, garden designer and wetland biologist living in Portland, Oregon. Her business, The Purple Garden, helps people create sustainable, natural spaces to grow edibles, herbs and native plants. www.thepurplegarden.com.

James Duke, PhD, is a world-renowned ethnobotanist and former USDA researcher. www.greenpharmacy.com.

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After Reading a recent article from Ted Pike about deviant sexual behavior in the USA, and even so-called modern Psychiatry-- there is no doubt in MY mind that Almighty God has the RIGHT to rain down fire from heaven tomorrow morning. Just my personal view point and opinion. And the new 'Hate Laws' will make things 100 times worse.

But we must EXPECT things like this to happen as Jesus predicted in the book of Matthew. Our "Gov't" has been high-jacked by the Dims mostly, but also the weak, spineless RINO's who have also lost too many seats in the Senate and Congress do to immorality and scandal. CINO's too [Christians in name only] failed the nation because they didn't vote right when it was abundantly clear what obama stood for and supported. I feel that we can beat the bad news and further break down of planet earth by praying, meditating on scripture every single day and getting as close as possible to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I feel that I finally got my power scooter to work and run right now, but I may try to study and learn more about the 'nuts and bolts' of this animal for when it breaks down again. I will also chain the scooter down to the truck so that there is not so much 'travel' when I stop and go. I think I learned a lot--especially the "service people" who expect the costumer to kiss their feet in order for them to do their own jobs in a timely and skilled manner... LOL. And with the poor 'service' track record, it might even be wise to buy a 2nd scooter just in case. And with this unstable economy I will not consider buying another new vehicle, as the Gov't [Obama] will prob. want to preak the promise and raise taxes on the middle class to bail out his own wild spending Baloney.

"OBAMACARE - HEALTHCARE DISASTER IN THE MAKING": --- from my buddy, Dirk.

Have a great day.

Tom